At a glance: crete is the word for greek property hunters
Crete is the word, according to TheMoveChannel.com's latest At a Glance infographic. The report, which compares the Greek housing market between September 2013 and August 2014 with the same period two years before, shows that Crete is now responsible for 45 per cent of all enquiries, a rise of 15.29 per cent compared to the 12 months to August 2012 (29.71 per cent).
Overseas buyers continue to dream of living on Greece's beautiful islands, despite the recession causing prices and demand to slide in recent years. Crete tops the list with almost half of enquiries, followed by the Ionian Islands, which account for 15.71 per cent.
On the mainland, interest has surged in Attica, as buyers turn towards Athens. Indeed, while the island life holds traditional lifestyle appeal, demand for property in the capital remains strong. The city was the target of 12.23 per cent of searches, almost unchanged from two years ago, enough to make it the most sought-after location on TheMoveChannel.com.
Buyers are also increasingly looking for property near Athens, with three other towns in Attica (Hydra, Aegina and Poros) all appearing in the 10 most searched-for places. Agios Nikalaos on Crete, meanwhile, has seen its share of searches fall from more than 1 in 4 searches two years ago to just 5.7 per cent, takng it from the most looked-for location in 2012 to the fifth.
That interest in the capital city has translated into potential sales too; the region of Attica made up 7.28 per cent of enquiries two years ago, but is now responsible for more than 1 in 10 (11.68 per cent) enquiries, climbing from the fifth most popular region to the third most popular.
In the clash of the mainland and island titans, though, Crete still carries the biggest clout. The island accounted for three of the top 10 search locations in 2014, down from seven in 2012, but is home to nine out of the top 20.
Demand for the town of Kalamata in the Pelopennes climbed - also accounting for more than 1 in 10 searches - but it was followed closely by Kassiopi on the Ionian Islands, which saw a similar leap from 0.58 per cent of searches in the 12 months to September 2012 to 10.27 per cent. Indeed, as the purchase process continued, buyers drifted away from the mainland, with the share of enquiries belonging to the Pelopennes halving to 7.48 per cent. The Ionian Islands, on the other hand, jumped from the fourth most popular region to the second, its enquiries edging up from 14.05 per cent to 15.71 per cent.
The cumulative effect is a housing market that remains weighted in favour of homes at sea. Two years ago, all of the Greek islands accounted for a combined total of 64.97 per cent of enquiries on TheMoveChannel.com. Now, the islands' share has soared to 70.67 per cent.
The infographic also charts behaviour on Google in the 12 months to September 2014. Searches for "Greek property for sale" have fallen in the last two years, but "property for sale in Greece" has been the subject of either the same number of searches or more in three of the last four quarters.
In terms of types of property, buyers are increasingly interested in villas. Indeed, the term "holiday homes in Greece" was searched a far fewer number of times throughout the past year than between 2011 and 2012, but searches for "villas for sale in Greece" increased steadily throughout. "Greek villas" enjoyed the highest number of searches between September and November 2013.